Usagi Loves Rei!
by amiwakawaiidesu
Summary: During a boat trip with Usagi and Ami, Rei and Mamoru switch bodies.


Usagi Loves...Rei?!  
by amiwakawaiidesu  
  
(Here's the premise: what would happen if Rei and Mamoru switched   
bodies? Here you'll find my answer, plus a salty sea tale of high   
adventure (or at least a salty sea tale ^^). Although the story   
takes place after the fifth season, it assumes that Sailor Moon   
still has the use of her Moon Power Tier (broken earlier by   
Galaxia).  
  
Also, please note that I don't own any of the original characters   
from "Sailor Moon", which was created by Naoko Takeuchi.)  
----------  
  
"Now that's what I call a ship!"  
  
"Well, technically, a small excursion craft should be referred to   
as a 'boat'."  
  
Rei rolled her eyes, determined not to get upset with Ami.  
  
"Well, it's a nice boat, then."  
  
"Oh, absolutely."  
  
"Oh, who cares what you call it," Usagi interrupted, wrapping her   
arms around Mamoru; "as long as I get to spend the day with Mamo-  
chan!"  
  
Again, Rei rolled her eyes.  
  
//Gods, give me strength//  
  
For all her grumpiness, though, even Rei could not deny that it   
was shaping up to be a wonderful day. Standing on the dock in   
Yokohama, she, Usagi, Mamoru and Rei were looking up at the white-  
colored hull of the university motor vessel 'Kofuku Shima', while   
puffy white clouds loitered over the waters of Tokyo Bay. Ever-  
popular at his school, Mamoru had struck up a friendship with   
marine biology professor--and motor vessel captain--Yamamoto   
Minoru, and thus the captain had invited Mamoru and friends   
aboard for a midsummer excursion.  
  
"It's a pity Mako and Mina couldn't make it," Ami said.  
  
"That's true," Rei agreed. "Mako is really good with boats."  
  
"And she could've made us a box lunch," Usagi said, "if she didn't   
have a date."  
  
"Honestly, meatball-head," Rei said, "it's like the only reason   
you like her is because she cooks for you."  
  
"That's not true," Usagi pouted. "I like her, AND I like the fact   
that she cooks for me."  
  
"Er...Mamoru," Ami interrupted, "aren't we supposed to be helping   
the crew do some work while we're on board?"  
  
"Oh, it's nothing too serious," Mamoru replied. "The university   
is studying tidal currents in the bay, so the captain will   
probably have us help throw his bottles overboard."  
  
"Throw bottles overboard?" Usagi asked. "That sounds like   
littering..."  
  
"It's part of the study, Usako," Mamoru explained, patiently; "The   
bottles have instructions asking people who find them to return   
them to the university. Then, by recording where the bottles were   
mailed from, Professor Yamamoto can make a map of the currents   
around the bay."  
  
Usagi looked up at Mamoru, mystified.  
  
"Forget it, Mamoru," Rei said. "It went right over her head."  
  
"Hey!" Usagi protested.  
  
Before a full-scale tongue-war could erupt, however, Captain   
Yamamoto appeared at the top of the boarding steps and hailed the   
party. To the surprise of the girls, the captain was a handsome   
man only a little older-looking than Mamoru, with an athletic   
physique and rakishly coifed black hair.  
  
"Chiba-san! Good morning!"  
  
"Good morning, senpai!" Mamoru replied, moving to greet his   
friend.  
  
"Chiba-san, you didn't tell me you had so many pretty   
girlfriends!"  
  
Rei and Ami blushed, while Usagi flew to defend her honor.  
  
"A-hem!" she coughed; "Mamoru, you've got just one girlfriend,   
remember?"  
  
"Yamamoto senpai," Mamoru said, "allow me to introduce my   
girlfriend, Tsukino Usagi..."  
  
"Pleased to meet you," Usagi said, bowing slightly.  
  
"And these are Usagi's friends, Hino Rei and Mizuno Ami."  
  
The girls bowed as well.  
  
"Well, you're all pretty girls in my book," Yamamoto said. "Of   
course, some sailors do say it's bad luck to have girls on a   
boat...but what the heck! Welcome aboard!"  
  
Rei smiled giddily, following the captain and the others up the   
steps onto the ship.  
  
//Sweet! Mako and Mina are going to be sooooo jealous!//   
  
* * *  
  
Although the 'Kofuku Shima' was spacious--25 meters long and 3   
meters wide--Captain Yamamoto had cut the regular crew of eight in   
half on account of his extra help for the day, and the trip being   
little more than an 8-hour trek around the bay. And indeed, the   
weather was most congenial when they set out, barely rippling the   
canvas tarp stretched across the quarterdeck for shade.  
  
"Can you really handle a boat this big with four people?" Ami   
asked, tossing a plastic tidal-study bottle over the stern  
railing.  
  
"It's not too difficult," Captain Yamamoto said; "most of the   
controls are automated, so you could really handle the boat with   
just an engineer and a pilot."  
  
"So it's safe?"  
  
Yamamoto smiled.  
  
"Just make sure you keep your PFD on," he said, patting the   
shoulder of his own Personal Flotation Device. "If you fall   
overboard, pull this grip here and the automatic beacon will go   
off."  
  
"Ah--so the Coast Guard will know where to pick you up."  
  
"Bright girl."  
  
Ami blushed, slightly, and Rei grumbled...once again, a good-  
looking guy was not paying her attention.  
  
"It must be awfully romantic," Rei said, finally--tossing her head   
to let her long black hair, bound by a silken bow, flail   
dramatically; "being the captain of a big boat like this."  
  
"Actually, I spend most of my time in the classroom," the captain   
said, watching the bottle-tossing technique of Rei, Mamoru and Ami   
with satisfaction. When Usagi reared back and let her bottle fly,   
however, it slipped from her hand and nearly clocked Yamamoto in   
the forehead before bouncing off a lifeboat davit.  
  
"Oops!"  
  
"Are you all right, senpai?" Mamoru asked.  
  
"Oh, I'm fine," Yamamoto said, still crouching on the deck.  
  
"Maybe it's a good thing Mako and Mina didn't come," Rei offered.   
"Usagi would probably kill them!"  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Where ARE your friends?" Yamamoto asked, grasping the handrail   
alongside Rei. "They must be doing something special to pass up a   
free cruise."  
  
"Well, Makoto said she had a date," Rei answered, tossing another   
bottle overboard, "which I find hard to imagine--since I can't   
imagine she'd get a boyfriend before me..."  
  
Whereupon she chucked another bottle into the water.  
  
SPLASH!  
  
"You're right," the captain said, "it is hard to imagine you don't   
have a boyfriend."  
  
"Well, on the other hand," Rei said, blushing slightly, "it does   
mean I'm free to look around..."  
  
"What about Yuuichirou?" Usagi asked.  
  
"Hey, just watch your aim over there, dead-eye."  
  
"So what about your other friend?" Yamamoto asked.  
  
"Oh, Mina?" said Rei. "She had to go to some talent show."  
  
"What was that you said her name was...? 'Mina' or something like   
that...?"  
  
"Yeah--Aino Minako."  
  
Suddenly--and incongruously--the captain's face lit up with   
surprise.  
  
"YOU know Aino Minako? That is so cool!"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Aino Minako, the idol singer? Ah, what a goddess! I saw her   
last year on a TV special, and I had an instant crush on her!"  
  
"Okay..." Rei said, giving the older man a curious glance.  
  
"Ah..." the captain sighed, "you don't suppose you could get me   
her autograph, could you?"  
  
"I don't know," Rei said, grumpily. "She's awfully busy."  
  
SPLASH!  
  
Mamoru, meanwhile, was smiling in amusement--Yamamoto did have a   
curious, if mostly-harmless, obsession with idol singers--but his   
smile disappeared when he happened to glance over his shoulder.   
On the horizon--unusual for a sunny August day--a cloud bank was   
now looming low and dark ahead of the boat.  
  
"Captain...?"  
  
"Yeah, I see it," Yamamoto replied. "It looks like a storm."  
  
"There shouldn't be a storm today," Ami offered.  
  
"No, there shouldn't. Chiba-san, maybe you should get the girls   
belowdecks."  
  
"Are we in danger?" Usagi asked Mamoru.  
  
"I don't know," Mamoru said, steering Usagi, Rei and Ami toward   
the starboard companionway. "It's probably safer below, though."  
  
Yamamoto, meanwhile, was already dashing up the ladder to the back   
of the pilot house, where the pilot had just stuck his head out to   
call him.  
  
* * *  
  
The companionway led directly to the crew's mess, where Captain   
Yamamoto had planned to feed the landlubbers in return for their   
help with his research. However--despite the cakes and candies at   
hand--Usagi soon found herself losing her appetite as the ship   
began rolling between 1 and 2-meter swells.  
  
"It looks like a gale," Ami said, looking out the nearest   
porthole.  
  
"Ohhh...make it stop..." Usagi moaned, turning green as she   
watched the snacks roll across the deck.  
  
"It's all right," Mamoru said, comforting her; "we can't be more   
than 10 kilometers from shore."  
  
"You could've fooled me," Rei said, staring through another   
porthole at the wind-driven waves; "I can't see a thing out   
there."  
  
"Well," Mamoru said, "I think we should have faith in the captain.   
You know, he practically grew up on his father's fishing boat."  
  
"Grew up on a fishing boat," Rei said; "well, that would explain   
the attraction to girls."  
  
For his part, Mamoru believed the storm would soon pass; Tokyo Bay   
was hardly large enough to hold a full-scale tropical depression,   
so the storm couldn't last for long. A few minutes later,   
however, the boat was lurching erratically, and Mamoru was   
dismayed to see Captain Yamamoto himself at the forward hatch.  
  
"I think we need your help, buddy."  
  
"Are we in danger?" Mamoru asked, standing up and grasping a   
bolted-down table for support.  
  
"No, we just need another hand."  
  
A few seconds later, Mamoru found himself up in the pilothouse   
with the captain and the pilot, Mr. Maryoku. Since the pilothouse   
was very high up on the superstructure, he felt an immediate surge   
of vertigo--looking through the large bridge windows at the sea   
surging back-and-forth around the boat--but balanced himself by   
focusing on the horizon.  
  
"Chiba-san," the captain said, "you ever steer a boat?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Well, I hope you can steer this one."   
  
"What? Why do you need ME to steer?"  
  
"Maryoku-san and I have to secure the tarp," the captain said,   
pointing back toward the quarterdeck; "the wind is grabbing it   
like a sail, and whipping the boat back and forth."  
  
"What about your other crew members?"  
  
"They're already blown overboard," Yamamoto said.  
  
For a long moment, Mamoru stared at the captain in disbelief.  
  
"That doesn't sound good," he said, finally.  
  
"Just look here," Yamamoto said, guiding Mamoru into the pilot's   
chair as the regular pilot stood up; "this wheel controls the   
rudder, and this throttle controls the engines. Just keep the bow   
pointed toward the S on the compass."  
  
"This is crazy!" Mamoru said.  
  
"Think any of the girls can do better?"  
  
For a moment, Mamoru imagined Usagi at the controls--and shivered   
with fear.  
  
"Probably not."  
  
A few seconds later--after the captain saw that Mamoru was getting   
the hang of the controls--the captain disappeared aft with his one   
remaining crew member. Facing forward while he tried to control   
the boat, Mamoru gritted his teeth and tried to make the best of   
the perilous situation.  
  
//Maybe it's Usagi// he thought, //maybe just having her around   
makes these things happen...//  
  
But then again, he thought, it had been his idea to take the girls   
along; it wasn't fair to put the blame somewhere else.  
  
//Yes, it really is my fault. It's my fault we took this trip,   
and it'll be my fault when I kill the Moon Princess and half her   
court...//  
  
Mamoru's focus intensified, however, when he felt the steady thrum   
of the engines stop below him.   
  
"Shit!" he swore, trying in vain to work the throttle...  
  
Without power, the boat was out of control!  
  
"God...damn it...!" he muttered, trying to fight the wheel and   
realizing he had very little idea what the controls around him   
actually did. Genuine fear finally washed over him when he felt   
the boat lurch and swing hard to starboard--but then he realized   
the storm was finally breaking up...   
  
Then, suddenly, he heard a familiar voice below him.  
  
"Mamoru? Are you there?"  
  
"Usagi? I'm on the bridge!"  
  
Usagi found her way through the open deck hatch a few seconds   
later, and immediately embraced her beloved.  
  
"Oh, Mamo-chan, I'm so scared--Ami says the ship is flooding!"  
  
"What the hell...?"  
  
"She wanted me to tell the captain; do you know where he is?"  
  
"Yeah, he should be back there," Mamoru said, pointing aft and   
finally--realizing the helm controls were dead--standing up to   
join Usagi at the rear window. The tarp--he now saw--was flapping   
loose in the breeze, but the captain and the pilot were nowhere to   
be seen.  
  
"Uh, Mamo-chan? Where IS the captain?"  
  
//This is not good...// Mamoru thought, //...not good!//  
  
* * *  
  
Racing belowdecks a moment later, down the bridge ladder through   
the chart room, then down another companionway to the main   
deck, Mamoru spared a moment to check aft for any sign of the   
crew, then continued downward one more deck to the gangway leading   
aft to the engine room. There he found Rei and Ami up to their   
ankles in seawater, with both their hands on the engine room   
hatch.  
  
"Usagi said we're flooding," Mamoru said.  
  
"We really ARE flooding...!" Usagi said, coming up behind Mamoru.   
"Oh my god--we're going to sink!"  
  
"I don't think so," Ami said; "the flooding's in the engine room,   
and we locked the hatch."  
  
"Good thinking," Mamoru said.  
  
Whereupon, the lights went out.  
  
"Power's out," Usagi offered.  
  
"Thanks, Usagi," muttered Rei.  
  
"Did you find the captain?" Ami asked.  
  
"I don't think the captain's with us," Mamoru said. "I think he   
was washed overboard."  
  
"You're kidding," Rei said.  
  
"Actually, I think the whole crew was washed overboard. Anyway,   
the helm is jammed, and now it looks like we're out of power."  
  
"Oh, great," Rei said. "We are so screwed!"  
  
"Well, let's try to get organized," Mamoru said, helping the girls   
ascend the companionway back to the partial light provided by the   
portholes on the main deck; "we can't be more than a half-hour   
from the coast, and I'm sure the Coast Guard will see us   
eventually. In the meantime, Ami, why don't you see if you can   
get the radio working and call for help."  
  
"What if she can't?" Usagi asked.  
  
"Then we'll use your communicator to call Luna, and she'll call   
for help."  
  
* * *  
  
The first wrinkles in Mamoru's plan developed just a few minutes   
later. While the storm had finally blown over, leaving the ship   
floating with a stern list in the strangely tranquil water, Ami   
had trouble picking up any signals on the radio, and the girls'   
personal communicators were likewise jammed.  
  
"The radio is working," Ami said, "and there's plenty of power   
from the batteries...I think we're being jammed."  
  
"By what?" Mamoru asked.  
  
"Well, I don't know if we're being jammed," Rei said, standing   
alongside the others in the pilothouse; "but I do have a feeling   
there's something nearby--a presence."  
  
"Some kind of monster?" Usagi asked, mindful of her transformation   
brooch.   
  
"I don't know, but it does it feel familiar..."  
  
Curious, Ami took out her pocket computer and began to survey the   
area. Although her computer scanner wasn't working much better   
than the communicators, she did find a massive energy source   
floating nearby--and all eyes picked it up when Ami pointed   
a finger at the water off the starboard bow.  
  
"What the hell is that?" said Rei.  
  
"It looks like a trash can..." Usagi said.  
  
"No, it's more like a hatch of a submarine," Mamoru said.  
  
"Quite," Ami said, attempting to scan the mysterious object.   
Strong jamming--doubtless from the object--was still interfering   
with her ability to make a proper scan, but that didn't keep her   
from analyzing the jamming energy itself.  
  
"That thing," she went on, "is putting out a very strong energy   
wave, very similar to the energy wave created by the Imperium   
Silver Crystal."  
  
"Wait a minute," Rei said, "let me get this straight; we're being   
jammed by radio signals from a lunar submarine?"  
  
"I think that would be a conjectural leap," Ami replied. "Still,   
it is peculiar--and the hatch is open; maybe we should   
investigate."  
  
"Out of the question," Mamoru said. "As long as this ship is   
afloat and stable, we'll wait here for rescue."  
  
Ami appeared more disappointed than Rei and Usagi, but even she   
could see that his leadership was sensible. And a few minutes   
later, it appeared that their salvation was at hand when a   
Japanese Coast Guard plane flew almost directly overhead.  
  
Ecstatic, the girls ran out on deck to wave and gesture toward the   
plane, but it neither turned nor appeared to acknowledge them in   
any way.  
  
"I don't think they saw us," Rei offered.  
  
"How could they not see us?" Usagi said. "They flew right over   
us."  
  
"Let's just be patient," Mamoru said. "I'm sure they'll come   
back."  
  
Nearly an hour passed, however, before another craft came into   
view; this time it was a massive containerized cargo ship--but   
she, likewise, passed the 'Kofuku Shima' without seeming to notice   
the smaller craft.  
  
"Aren't they supposed to stop to help people in distress?" Usagi   
asked.  
  
"That is the law," Ami said.  
  
"Hm," Mamoru mused, rummaging around the pilothouse and digging up   
a flare pistol. When the next ship appeared--a harbor tug--he   
tried to fire off a flare, but the projectile seemed to slam into   
an invisible barrier just a few meters above the ship and   
disintegrated in a shower of sparks.  
  
"Here, let me try something," Rei said, running up to the foredeck   
and taking her transformation pen out of her jeans. "MARS   
CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"  
  
In a wash of red light and fire, Rei promptly transformed into the   
pretty soldier, Sailor Mars.  
  
"Okay, now what?" Usagi said, standing alongside Ami and Mamoru on   
the bridge, and shouting through an open side window.  
  
"Just watch," Sailor Mars said; "I've been working on a new   
attack..."  
  
"MARS CELESTIAL FIREBALL!"  
  
Suddenly--to the utter surprise of Usagi, Ami and Mamoru--an   
enormous ball of fire ascended from the hands of Sailor Mars and   
began to rise into the air above the ship.  
  
"Well, the tug out to see that," Ami conceded.  
  
Just like the flare pistol shell, however, the fireball stopped   
abruptly several meters above the ship--then exploded across the   
foredeck like a gigantic gasoline bomb.   
  
"Oh, shit!" Sailor Mars said, diving off the side of the boat just   
in time to avoid getting roasted. The pressure wave, meanwhile,   
cracked the windows of the bridge and sent everyone else ducking   
for cover.  
  
"I think that one needs some work," Usagi suggested, helping   
Mamoru fish the waterlogged senshi out of the bay.  
  
"Well, anyway," Sailor Mars said, "I'll bet the tug saw that!"  
  
"Actually, I don't think they did," Ami said. "It looks like   
they're still heading away from us."  
  
"Well, hell," Sailor Mars swore; "what's out there, a force   
field?"   
  
"I think that's exactly what's out there," Ami said. "I think   
there's a force field jamming the radio, bending our light   
waves to make us appear invisible, and preventing objects from   
leaving the area."  
  
"But that's crazy," Mamoru said; "it would take a ridiculous   
amount of power to encase a ship in a force field, and bend light   
like that."  
  
"Unless that submarine is from the Moon Kingdom," Ami conjectured.   
"We know the Moon Kingdom had technology more sophisticated than   
ours. Perhaps Queen Serenity built this thing with the power   
of her own Silver Crystal."  
  
"Well," Mamoru said, stroking his chin, "I suppose it is   
possible."  
  
"Yes. It's even possible that the submarine caused the storm in   
the first place. If it is from the Moon Kingdom, it might have   
been trying to get our attention."  
  
All eyes turned to Usagi, as Sailor Mars squeezed the water out of   
her long black hair and transformed back into Rei.  
  
"Well, what about it, Your Highness," Rei said. "You feel   
anything?"  
  
"I'm just wondering why they'd have submarines on the moon," Usagi   
said.  
  
"I had to ask."  
  
"Well, anyway," Usagi said, "somebody better go over there and   
check it out. It's going to be dark soon, and we don't even know   
which way the shore is."  
  
"Usagi's right," Ami said--pleasantly surprised by Usagi's grasp   
of the situation--"without power, we can't get away from this   
'submarine', and we might drift right into the Pacific. Or sink,   
and drown."  
  
"We do have the lifeboat," Mamoru said. "If we rowed away from   
the 'Kofuku Shima', we might get outside the jamming field so the   
Coast Guard could pick up our life jacket beacons."  
  
"Or," Rei countered, "we might drift into the Pacific in an even   
smaller boat than we've already got...assuming we could even get   
past the force field."  
  
It was a classic impasse, although it was nothing new to Usagi;   
over the years, she'd seen her friends have plenty of differing   
opinions. Now, once again, all eyes turned to her for a decision.  
  
"If it came from the Moon Kingdom," she said, "we should   
investigate."  
  
"As you wish," Mamoru said, "your highness."  
  
* * *  
  
What Usagi didn't realize--when she exercised her leadership--was   
that the group wouldn't allow her to board the submarine. Mamoru   
(the strongest) and Rei (the most psychically gifted) would take   
the lifeboat over to the submarine while Usagi and Ami stayed on   
board the 'Kofuku Shima'.  
  
"I think it's for the best," Ami said, standing alongside Usagi   
and paying out the line that connected their vessel to the   
lifeboat.  
  
"I just hope Rei doesn't take advantage of the situation," Usagi   
said.  
  
"How would she take advantage of the situation?"  
  
"Honestly, Ami--boy plus girl plus mysterious submarine: do the   
math."  
  
"So you're suggesting Rei would flirt with Mamoru."  
  
"She's crafty--that's all I'm saying."  
  
* * *  
  
Aboard the lifeboat, meanwhile, Mamoru and Rei were coming to see   
that the submarine was less of a cylinder and more of a submerged   
disk. Only the top hatch was clearly visible, but the outline of   
the 'submarine' was clearly circular, perhaps 20 meters in   
diameter.  
  
Luckily, as they drew closer, they found projections they could   
tie a line to, and a ladder leading down into the interior of the   
submerged craft. It was comfortable--warm and brightly-lit--with   
polished white corridors leading off to the right and the left.  
  
"This is weird," Mamoru said. "It looks bigger on the inside than   
the outside."  
  
"Like a TARDIS," Rei said, grinning.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"British TV--'Doctor Who'."   
  
"Well, it sure doesn't look like any submarine I've ever seen;   
where's the crew?"  
  
Rei paused to exert her psychic senses. Holding her hands   
together, she focused her chi and searched for a presence.  
  
"There is something here," she said, "a presence--but I don't   
think it's human."  
  
"Don't tell me--something like the monster in 'Alien'."  
  
"Oh, I hate that movie," Rei said.   
  
"Which way, priestess?"  
  
"This way," Rei said, keeping one hand around the transformation   
pen in her pocket. If something was waiting to ambush them, she   
could always change into Sailor Mars, and Mamoru into Tuxedo   
Kamen.   
  
Amazingly, Rei and Mamoru walked for several minutes down a   
curving corridor before they found an obvious doorway leading into   
the interior of the craft. There they found a circular chamber   
with a glowing ring of light in the center.  
  
"Maybe we're supposed to stand in the ring of light," Rei   
suggested.  
  
"Fine," Mamoru said, stepping into the ring beside her. A moment   
later, the ring began to sink into the floor.  
  
"An elevator," Rei noted, watching several levels of deck fly   
past.  
  
"I'm guessing this wasn't made in Japan," Mamoru ventured, as the   
elevator finally came to a stop deep in the bowels of the ship--  
this time in a poorly lit chamber illuminated only by glowing data   
screens.  
  
"I don't know," Rei said, peering into the darkness and noting a   
pair of padded contour chairs; "you don't think Matsushita could   
have built this?"  
  
"More like Tokyo Disneyland," Mamoru said, stepping off the   
elevator pad beside Rei and examining the chamber in detail.   
"There's no controls for any of these displays, and the language   
is completely foreign."  
  
"Maybe it's Moon-ese."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
Rei, in the meantime, had slipped into one of the chairs and noted   
a bumpy nodule on the end of one of the armrests.  
  
"Do you think you ought to be sitting in that chair?"  
  
"I don't think it's going to bite. Why don't you sit in the other   
chair and see if something happens?"  
  
"What if it's a trap?" Mamoru said, sitting down warily.  
  
"I don't think it's a trap," Rei said. "I can't believe anyone   
would go through this much trouble just to trap a couple of   
people."  
  
Mamoru shifted uncomfortably, dubious of Rei's logic.  
  
"This is interesting, though," Rei said, feeling the nodule   
underneath her fingers slide open.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"There's some kind of button here."  
  
"Well, don't push it..."  
  
"I think I should push it."  
  
"Rei, don't push the button."  
  
"I'm going to push the button."  
  
And Rei pushed the button. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but   
then--suddenly--Rei felt a strange warmth suffusing her body, and   
realized she couldn't move.  
  
"This isn't good, Rei," Mamoru said, feeling the same warmth   
burning in his own chest, and realizing he was likewise glued to   
his chair.  
  
"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have pushed the button..." Rei admitted,   
feeling her consciousness quickly slipping away.  
  
* * *  
  
When Rei came to, her head was throbbing with a dull aching pain.   
As her eyes focused, she saw that she was still in the same   
circular chamber as before, but something was amiss; her limbs   
felt heavy, and she glanced down at her body...  
  
...it appeared to be a man's body...  
  
...Mamoru's body.  
  
"YAAAAAAA--!!!"  
  
"I see you're awake," Mamoru said--only it wasn't his voice, it   
was hers. Evidently, their bodies had stayed in their seats, and   
their minds had traded places!  
  
"I was pretty freaked out myself," the false--or 'nise'--Rei   
continued, "at first. But I don't think the effect caused any   
serious damage."  
  
Nise-Mamoru--still panting with shock, his heart pounding in his   
chest--couldn't even respond until a moment later.  
  
"No serious damage--? How long have you been awake...?"  
  
"I don't know--a few minutes."  
  
"Well, don't look at my body!" nise-Mamoru said. "You haven't   
been looking at my body, have you--?"  
  
Nise-Rei cocked her right eyebrow.  
  
"Rei," she said, "I like to think that I'm a gentleman, and I   
would not lower myself to such base amusements. Even if I'm in   
your body, it doesn't mean I have any interest in your body."  
  
Even as she said that, nise-Rei realized it didn't make a lot of   
sense.  
  
"What--? Now I'm not attractive, or something?"  
  
"Rei--focus: alien spaceship, mind transfer--not good."  
  
Nise-Mamoru tensed and nodded.  
  
"Is it possible this might be an illusion?" nise-Rei asked.  
  
"Let me see," nise-Mamoru said, lifting his hands and closing his   
eyes to focus his chi.  
  
"I don't think so," he said, a moment later; "I think I really am   
inside your body."  
  
"But you can use your psychic power," nise-Rei noted; "that's   
something. Maybe if you use your transformation pen, it will turn   
you back."  
  
"Good idea," nise-Mamoru said, searching in his pants for the   
pen.   
  
"Oops--I don't think that's the pen," he said a moment later,   
pulling out...Mamoru's keys.  
  
"Here," nise-Rei said, fishing the pen out of her jeans and   
handing it to nise-Mamoru. The false Mamoru then tottered   
upright onto his feet--surprised by his sudden height on Mamoru's   
long legs--and held the pen overhead.  
  
"MARS CRYSTAL POWER," he bellowed, "MAKE UP!"  
  
However, nothing happened.  
  
"Here, let me try my transformation," nise-Rei said, standing up   
and swinging her right arm around dramatically. Unlike the Sailor   
Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen could transform instantaneously, and thus   
nise-Rei expected to find herself back in a man's body the next   
moment, wrapped in a flamboyant black cape and sporting a top hat   
and mask.  
  
But again, nothing happened.  
  
"This IS bad," nise-Mamoru said. "Mamoru, I'm sorry..."  
  
"Well, it's too late for that," nise-Rei said, resting her hands   
on her hips; "we have to reverse the effect."  
  
"Well, we could ask Sailor Moon to use her healing power..."  
  
"Are you kidding?" nise-Rei said. "If Usagi found out I was in   
your body, she would kill me and skin you alive!"  
  
"Oh, come on," nise-Mamoru said, without conviction, "Usagi   
wouldn't be that upset...would she?"  
  
The man and girl looked at each other a long moment, then nodded   
agreement.  
  
"Yeah," nise-Mamoru said, "she'd kill us."  
  
"But what other option do we have?"  
  
"We could always try to reverse the process; you know--we change   
places in the seats and press the button again."  
  
Nise-Rei was skeptical.  
  
"I don't think that's wise. It might kill us, or scramble our   
brains for good."  
  
"Well, what then?"  
  
"I say we talk to Ami. She might be able reverse the process."  
  
"That's a long-shot..."  
  
"Well, it's that, or we run around the ship pushing buttons at   
random..."  
  
"I'd rather bet on Ami," nise-Mamoru said, stepping onto the   
elevator pad. "Come on."  
  
Although nise-Rei was frustrated by the continuing mystery of the   
origin and purpose of the 'submarine', she joined nise-Mamoru a   
moment later. Shortly, they were both headed upward, with the   
elevator evidently sensing their desire to return to the surface.   
  
"Uh...Rei?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I feel like I have to pee. Is that normal?"  
  
"Yeah, probably. They do say boys can hold it longer than girls."  
  
"Well, that's good," nise-Rei said, wishing the elevator would   
hurry up.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll be back on the 'Kofuku Shima' soon. Just   
don't look at yourself when you go."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Just don't look at yourself when you do your business."  
  
"And how am I supposed to 'do my business' if I can't look at   
myself?"  
  
"You can manage," nise-Mamoru said, primly; "it doesn't go   
all over the place like when a guy does it."  
  
Nise-Rei sighed, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Of course," nise-Mamoru said, "I suppose I could help you, if   
you want..."  
  
"No," nise-Rei said, as the elevator finally stopped at the top   
deck; "I think we'll draw the line there."  
  
* * *  
  
It was getting toward dusk when Ami finally spotted Rei and Mamoru   
returning to the 'Kofuku Shima' in their lifeboat.  
  
"Did you find anything?" Usagi yelled, helping Ami reel in the   
lifeboat line.  
  
Rei and Mamoru looked at each other, not sure who should answer.  
  
"No, not much," Mamoru said, finally, "the submarine appears to be   
abandoned."  
  
"Mamoru, I'm concerned," Ami said, helping Usagi pull the others   
on board; "I just saw Cape Suno off the port bow, and I think   
we're being towed out to sea by that submarine."  
  
"Oh, Mamo-chan," Usagi said, embracing her boyfriend, "what are we   
going to do?"  
  
"There, there," Mamoru said awkwardly, patting Usagi on the   
back.  
  
"Usagi," Rei said, "do you think you could run below and find us a   
flashlight? Mamoru here said he wanted to check the flooding in   
the engine room again."  
  
"Oh, sure," Usagi said, dashing aft.  
  
The moment she was gone, both Rei and Mamoru converged on Ami.  
  
"Ami, you've got to help us," nise-Mamoru said.  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"We DID find something on that submarine," nise-Rei said; "a   
machine that switched our minds into each other's bodies!"  
  
Ami looked at the pair suspiciously.  
  
"This is some kind of practical joke, right?"  
  
"Will--you--listen--to--me--!" nise-Mamoru said, startling Ami by   
grasping her shoulders and throwing her up against the deckhouse;   
"if you don't help us, Usagi will kill us!"  
  
"Easy, Rei," nise-Rei said; "you're a lot stronger than you were   
as a girl."  
  
"Sorry," nise-Mamoru said, letting Ami go. Released, Ami   
immediately reached for her pocket computer.  
  
"Oh my God," Ami said, scanning the man before her; "your brain   
waves--you really are Rei!"  
  
Then she examined the seeming Rei.  
  
"And you ARE Mamoru! Incredible!"  
  
"Yeah, it's real amazing," nise-Mamoru said, impatiently.   
"Listen, Ami, you're a genius, right? Please, please, help us!"  
  
Still amazed--and astounded--Ami looked back and forth at the pair   
before her.  
  
"Maybe we should tell Usagi," she finally suggested; "she could   
use her wand to heal you..."  
  
"No!" nise-Mamoru said; "Usagi would never understand this."  
  
"Well, jeez, I don't know what I could do," Ami said. "My   
scanner doesn't even work beyond a few meters, with all the   
jamming from the submarine."  
  
"Won't you at least take a look at the submarine?" nise-Rei asked.   
  
"I don't know...shouldn't we be more concerned about being   
stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?"  
  
"Well, look at it this way," nise-Rei said; "we need to disable   
that submarine if we're ever going to be rescued. That's a good   
excuse for looking at the submarine, right there."  
  
"Yeah," nise-Mamoru said, "you're good at breaking stuff, Ami."  
  
"Excuse me!"  
  
"I mean...you're good at figuring out how things work."  
  
Ami sighed.  
  
"Fine. Just let me tell Usagi where I went..."  
  
"No," nise-Mamoru said, steering Ami toward the lifeboat, "she'll   
just ask a lot of nosy questions."  
  
"But..."  
  
"We'll make up some kind of story," nise-Rei said.  
  
"Oh, fine," Ami said, finally, stepping into the lifeboat and   
taking up the oars. "But you two are going to owe me--big time."  
  
* * *   
  
"Where's Ami going?" Usagi asked, coming back on deck a few   
minutes later with a couple of flashlights.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about her," nise-Mamoru said. "She said   
something about checking out a theory or something."  
  
"But...someone should go with her."  
  
"It's all right," nise-Rei said, taking Usagi's forearm; "Ami's   
an expert swimmer, and she didn't want anyone else to risk their   
life with the night coming on."  
  
"Oh...okay."  
  
"Now if you'll excuse me," nise-Rei said, squeezing her thighs   
together, "I think I'll just be off to the little girls room!"  
  
* * *  
  
"Incredible!" Ami muttered, wandering down the winding top-deck   
corridor of the submarine, then onto the automated elevator.   
"Incredible!"  
  
Curiously--inside the submarine--Ami's computer scanner seemed to   
work perfectly well, and she could see that the submarine was   
actually a vast saucer--more than 200 meters in diameter--with its   
exterior distorted through extra-dimensional space to make it   
appear smaller on the outside than the inside. Deep inside the   
belly of the craft, a fusion powerplant was quietly humming away,   
and there were no less than 12 decks in total, equipped with   
elaborate electronic and life-support equipment.  
  
"If I could find a way to salvage this ship," Ami thought out   
loud--descending to the same level where Mamoru and Rei had   
suffered their accident--"it would be the greatest scientific   
discovery of the millennium!"  
  
"Perhaps," a soft, feminine voice said behind her. "But is that   
really for the best?"  
  
Surprised, Ami spun around and felt her heart suddenly leap in her   
chest.  
  
"Mom--?"  
  
It seemed impossible--Ami's mother was back at work at her   
hospital in Tokyo--but this figure appeared to be a virtual twin.   
She had her mother's beautiful blue eyes, long brown hair and   
strangely sad expression...only her costume, a radiant white gown   
in the style of Queen Serenity, was out of character.  
  
"I'm sorry," the woman said, "I'm not your mother. Or at least,   
I'm not your mother in this lifetime. I was your mother a long   
time ago...in the Moon Kingdom."  
  
"Who ARE you?" Ami asked, feeling a chill run up her spine.  
  
"My name is Lady Maia," she said, "mother of Princess Mercury, and   
physician to the court of Queen Serenity."  
  
Despite herself, Ami felt her knees give out, and she stumbled   
backward onto the floor, coming to a rest with her back against a   
bulkhead wall.   
  
"Oh, my precious daughter," Maia said, gently, "I didn't mean to   
frighten you."  
  
"I am Sailor Mercury--Princess Mercury--" Ami admitted, "--but I   
didn't know Sailor Mercury had a mother. I guess she would have   
had to, though..."   
  
"Oh, you haven't changed at all," Maia said, bending down to sit   
near Ami; "always thinking...always wondering..."  
  
"Now wait a minute," Ami said--trying to remain rational despite   
the trip-hammer beating of her heart; "why didn't my friends see   
you...?"  
  
"I didn't want them to. I only wanted to see you...one more   
time."  
  
It was then, as Ami looked into the eyes of the strange being,   
that she realized she was semi-transparent, like a ghost or a   
hologram.  
  
"I'm not a real person," Maia admitted, anticipating Ami's   
question and looking away for a moment; "I'm more in the nature of   
a projection, containing the memories of Lady Maia. But I do love   
you, and when I felt your presence near me, I had to see   
you...just one more time."  
  
"Do you mean," Ami conjectured, "you caused the storm...and   
crippled our boat...just to see me?"  
  
"Oh, child, I didn't realize how fragile your craft was. When   
this hospital rose from the ocean floor, the storm was a side   
effect of the energy being dissipated."  
  
"Hospital?"  
  
"That's what this is," Maia said, looking around herself; "this   
was a hospital ship in the service of Queen Serenity. It   
travelled throughout the solar system, helping the sick and   
injured."   
  
"And the jamming?"  
  
"A defensive measure. The hospital has no weapons, so it had to   
rely on passive defenses."  
  
"So the distortion of the hull into another dimension..."  
  
"...was also defensive; it reduced the apparent size of the   
hospital, and made it easier to move through space."  
  
Ami smiled.  
  
"You do sound like my mother," she said, remembering her mother's   
gentle, thoughtful manner.  
  
Maia smiled back.  
  
"She has my soul," Maia said, after a moment. "I survived the   
destruction of the Moon Kingdom, but I was alone aboard this ship   
after the passage of Beryl--the destroyer. I knew that the queen   
had sent you into the future, so I tried to survive until you were   
born again...but I was weak and sick without the power of the   
queen. When I knew I could survive no longer, I prayed that my   
soul would be born again in your time, and sank this ship in the   
waters of your blue world, Earth."  
  
Despite herself, Ami felt a tear roll down her cheek.  
  
"I never knew..."  
  
Maia tried to lay her hand against Ami's cheek, but her hand was   
insubstantial--like a ghost's.  
  
"I thought...this ship might help you one day, but I think I was   
wrong..."  
  
Maia then turned to face a dark viewscreen, and it suddenly   
illuminated with scenes of violence. Ami was confused about what   
she was seeing at first, but then she realized she was watching   
recordings of naval battles from an undersea perspective. Ships   
rocked with explosions of bombs and torpedoes, and Ami saw one   
hapless ship slide beneath the waves with its back broken--a   
warship still flying the flag of the rising sun.  
  
"The Pacific War," Ami said.  
  
"I had thought," Maia said, "that this might be a peaceful world,   
where the Moon Princess could rebuild her kingdom, but I fear I   
was wrong..."  
  
Then, as if to illustrate her point, Maia brought forth images of   
Tokyo burning--strangely distorted by waters overhead.  
  
"But that was 60 years ago," Ami said. "We don't even have a   
military now--officially, anyway."  
  
"But what about the rest of the world? Is this world at peace?"  
  
"No," Ami conceded. "Men still build weapons, and use them   
against each other."  
  
Having viewed enough destruction, perhaps, Maia turned off the   
viewscreen.  
  
"You are a gentle soul, Ami, but even you can see...if this   
spacecraft fell in the wrong hands..."  
  
"Someone would turn it into a weapon, yes. So why didn't you   
destroy it in the first place?"  
  
"Because," Maia said, turning back to Ami, "I missed you so much.   
I needed to see you--at least one more time."  
  
Ami bit her lower lip, caught on the horns of an unsolvable   
dilemma  
  
"I don't want you to die," Ami said; "can't you leave this ship?"  
  
"No, I am part of this ship."  
  
"Perhaps you could just return to the ocean floor..."  
  
"No," Maia said, "your friends have seen the hospital. Others   
would come."  
  
"They COULD keep your secret," Ami replied. "They've certainly   
kept bigger ones..."  
  
"But my secret could destroy the world. No, my time has passed;   
it was enough that I could see your face again."  
  
Ami grimaced; certainly, destroying this ship would destroy the   
jamming field around the 'Kofuku Shima'...  
  
But then, suddenly, she remembered the slight problem shared by   
Rei and Mamoru.  
  
"Well, you might be right," Ami said, "but I do have a question.   
My friends--who came aboard earlier--seem to have switched   
identities somehow..."  
  
"Oh, yes," Maia said, glancing at the chairs behind her; "the   
soul inverter."  
  
"Why in the world do you have a machine like that?"  
  
"Actually," Maia explained, "it's a healing device. On the Moon,   
I discovered that I could heal injuries in my own body by focusing   
my mental energies, but I was frustrated because I couldn't do the   
same for other people. Finally--with your help--I built the soul   
inverter so I could enter the body of a patient, and heal that   
person from within."  
  
"Amazing," Ami said.  
  
"I hadn't thought to include any safety features," Maia admitted;   
"everyone in the Moon Kingdom knew how it worked."  
  
"So, how do I switch them back?"  
  
"Prince Endymion and Princess Mars?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well...the machine does have a long recharging period. It can   
only be used once per lunar cycle."  
  
"28 days...?"  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Is there ANY other way to reverse the effect?"  
  
"Had you considered the Moon Princess? She has healing powers."  
  
"Yes, I had considered that," Ami said, reflecting on the paranoia   
of her friends. "Thank you, Lady Maia--I'll ask if she can help."  
  
"Are you going to leave now?"  
  
"My friends are on a leaking boat in the middle of the ocean," Ami   
said. "I should be with them..."  
  
Even if she were just a projection, Maia appeared sad beyond   
words.  
  
"I'll destroy the hospital then, after you go."  
  
"Maybe you should give me an hour," Ami said; "just to straighten   
things out over there."  
  
"Of course."  
  
"I am sorry I can't stay," Ami continued; "I wish I could, but...I   
have a duty to my friends..."  
  
Maia smiled, ascending to her feet as Ami staggered upright.  
  
"You are my daughter," she said, proudly. "But...would you do me   
just one favor?"  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Hug your mother for me, when you see her again."  
  
"I'll do that," Ami replied, pausing a moment to reach out her   
hand and touch the space where Maia's heart would have been--if   
she'd had one.   
  
"I'll do that."  
  
* * *  
  
Aboard the 'Kofuku Shima', it was soon quite dark, despite a   
cloudless sky spattered with stars. Using one of the two   
flashlights Usagi had rummaged, nise-Mamoru inspected the flooding   
belowdecks and reported it appeared to be stabilized.  
  
"Well, that's something," Usagi said, yawning.  
  
"You tired?" nise-Rei asked.  
  
"We've been up all day," Usagi said. "But I'm afraid to doze   
off."  
  
"Go ahead and take a nap, Usako," nise-Rei said; "you and Rei--  
I'll keep watch."  
  
Usagi looked at nise-Rei, confused.  
  
"Did you just call me 'Usako'?"  
  
"Uh...no. I said, 'go ahead and take a nap, meatball-head'."  
  
"Then you told Rei to take a nap, too," Usagi said.  
  
//Damn it--she would have to be paying attention NOW.//  
  
"Rei's probably just tired," nise-Mamoru said. "Why don't both   
you girls try to get some rest, and I'll wait up for Ami in the   
pilothouse."  
  
Desperately--while Usagi's back was turned--nise-Rei tried to   
wave off the suggestion, but nise-Mamoru was already heading for   
the bridge. Finally, she had no choice but to join Usagi--leading   
the way with another flashlight--as she descended belowdecks to   
the passenger stateroom, where a bunk bed was stationed for longer   
voyages.  
  
"I am beat," Usagi admitted, taking the lower bunk. "What about   
you?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm a little tired," nise-Rei admitted, climbing up to the   
top bunk.   
  
"I'll bet my mom is worried," Usagi said, shutting off the   
flashlight. "I told her we'd be back by sunset."  
  
"You'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to you."  
  
Usagi looked up at the bunk above her, mystified.  
  
"You almost sound like Mamoru."  
  
"Oh, sorry."  
  
"No, it's fine. I'm just used to you insulting me, and calling me   
a 'meatball head' all the time."  
  
"Oh, sorry," nise-Rei said, adding--hastily--"meatball head."  
  
"Well, you don't HAVE to call me that."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Do you really think I'm stupid, Rei? I mean, I know I'm not the   
brightest person in the world, and I'm kind of clumsy and clueless   
sometimes, but I still think I'm a good person."  
  
"I'm sorry," nise-Rei said. "I think you're a wonderful person.   
I wish I could tell you how much I admire you...standing up to our   
enemies, protecting us all..."  
  
"Are you sure you don't have a fever?" Usagi asked.  
  
"Well--I am your friend, aren't I? Can't a friend tell her   
friend how she feels?"  
  
"Well, yeah...it's just, it seems like you're always hiding behind   
insults and digs, like you don't want me to get too close to you."  
  
"I'm sorry," nise-Rei said, again; "I'm tired...I guess I'm not   
thinking straight..."  
  
A few minutes later, Usagi--now wide-awake and pondering her   
friend's odd behavior--heard her beginning to snore in the bunk   
above.  
  
//Poor Rei,// Usagi thought, //I was mean to her--when she was   
trying to tell me how she really felt. I ought to apologize   
later.//   
  
Thinking about Rei's change in behavior, however--which she   
attributed to their perilous situation--Usagi couldn't help but   
think about Mamoru, alone on the bridge. Quietly, then, she   
rolled out of her bunk, leaving the flashlight behind for Rei, and   
felt her way topside.  
  
"Mamo-chan?"  
  
"Usagi...?" nise-Mamoru said, turning in his seat; "I thought you   
were asleep."  
  
"I was worried about you," Usagi said, startling the man by   
dropping into his lap; "isn't Ami back yet?"  
  
"No. Her boat's still out there."  
  
"Do you think she's okay?"  
  
"I'm sure Ami's fine," nise-Mamoru said, putting his left arm   
around Usagi--and hoping Usagi couldn't sense his chagrin as she   
laid her head against his chest; "I can sense it."  
  
"You can 'sense' it? Since when are YOU psychic?"  
  
"I meant...I have a feeling she's all right. Anyway, I must be   
psychic--how else could Tuxedo Kamen always find Sailor Moon when   
she's in danger?"  
  
"You make it sound like Tuxedo Kamen is another person."  
  
//If only you knew!//  
  
Not sure what to do with his right hand, nise-Mamoru finally   
rested it on the back of Usagi's head. After a moment, he found   
himself idly stroking her long, twin pony tails.  
  
"You do have nice hair," nise-Mamoru said; "it's hard to keep it   
from fraying when it's long like that."  
  
Suddenly, Usagi lifted up on her forearms to look nise-Mamoru in   
the eyes.  
  
"Since when do YOU know anything about hair?"  
  
"I'm just saying--it's a lot of trouble to have long hair. It's   
one thing you've got in common with Rei."  
  
"Yeah, I guess. Rei does have pretty hair."  
  
"You think?"  
  
"Well, yeah. Guys are always gaga over how pretty she is."  
  
"Like who?"  
  
"Hey--you're supposed to be obsessed with me."  
  
Nise-Mamoru shrugged, and nodded.  
  
"Of course. Chiba Mamoru only has eyes for Usagi."  
  
Usagi frowned.  
  
"You know, that's weird. You just called me Usagi, and Rei called   
me Usako. What, did you switch personalities or something?"  
  
Nise-Mamoru chuckled, weakly.  
  
"Maybe it's this stupid boat," Usagi speculated. "It's making   
both of you silly."  
  
"That might be true," nise-Mamoru admitted; "you do seem to be the   
only sane one here."  
  
"I know what will make you feel better..." Usagi said, gently   
leaning forward toward her boyfriend's lips...  
  
And suddenly, nise-Mamoru panicked, eyes wide with fear.   
  
//No, this isn't good--!//  
  
Finally--when Usagi's lips were mere millimeters away--nise-Mamoru   
turned away, and received a kiss on the cheek.  
  
"Mamo-chan!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Mamo-chan, we could die here any minute! Don't you love me?"  
  
"I think I'm beginning to see why I would," nise-Mamoru said, "I   
mean--what I would see in you, as Mamoru. Even if you are as dumb   
as a post, sometimes."  
  
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi said, starting to cry.  
  
"Oh, don't cry--! I'm sorry, that didn't come out right..."  
  
"I knew it!" Usagi wailed, recoiling from his touch; "you hate me!   
You think I'm stupid!"  
  
"No...I--no, I don't think you're stupid...! I'm an idiot, okay?   
Stupid Mamoru--stupid Mamoru doesn't have a clue what he's   
saying...!"  
  
"I'll say," nise-Rei said, from the back of the bridge.  
  
Suddenly, both Usagi and nise-Mamoru turned around--and were   
startled to see Ami there as well. Evidently, Ami had returned   
while the couple on the bridge was otherwise occupied.  
  
"Ami--?" nise-Mamoru said; "what are you doing here...?"  
  
"Saving you and Mamoru from further embarrassment," Ami replied.  
  
Despite her tears, Usagi noticed the apparent mistake.  
  
"Don't you mean, 'you and Rei'?"  
  
"No, Usagi. Mamoru, Rei and I have been treating you like a   
child--afraid of telling you about something that happened--and I,   
for one, want to be the first to apologize."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"To break it down simply," Ami said, "Rei and Mamoru discovered a   
machine on board the spaceship over there..."  
  
"It really IS a spaceship?" Usagi interrupted.  
  
"...yes, and they accidentally transferred their consciousness   
from one body to the other. Judging by your reaction--Usagi--Rei   
didn't do a very good job of acting like Mamoru."  
  
For a long moment, Usagi simply tried to understand what Ami was   
saying...then her eyes widened with fear and horror.  
  
"Rei--?" Usagi said, facing first the false Mamoru, then the false   
Rei, "Mamoru--? How could you...!"  
  
Then, her face awash in tears, she broke away from the false   
Mamoru and dashed belowdecks.   
  
"Good one, Ami," nise-Mamoru said; "I knew she wouldn't   
understand."  
  
"Don't blame Ami," nise-Rei said. "She told me Usagi is the only   
one who can help us."  
  
"Well, we should stop her, then..." nise-Mamoru said, rising to   
stand.  
  
"No," Ami said, holding up her hand; "let her be. If I were her,   
I'd be really pissed-off, too."  
  
* * *  
  
For Usagi, the farthest place she could run was into the belly of   
the ship, down where the flooding water had pooled in front of the   
engine room. On the way down there, she gave a passing thought to   
throwing herself overboard--so deep was her sense of betrayal--but   
something would not let her. Even as she splashed into the   
pooling water, slipped and landed on a half-submerged step, she   
wondered what she might have done if she were Rei or Mamoru.  
  
It hurt to cry as much as she did--it swelled her eyes and burned   
her throat--and it was a long time before she saw a bobbing   
flashlight beam, and realized someone was down there looking for   
her.  
  
"Usagi...?"  
  
Ami.  
  
"Usagi, I'm sorry," Ami said, pointing her flashlight downward.   
"I should have told you from the start."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Usagi, please don't hate us..."  
  
"Oh, Ami," Usagi said, finally, "I don't hate you. Are you by   
yourself?"  
  
Ami nodded--immediately feeling foolish in the poorly-lit   
corridor.   
  
"Rei and Mamoru are topside," she said.  
  
"Help me up, would you?"  
  
Still holding her flashlight, Ami immediately splashed down into   
the water and lifted up her friend.  
  
"You're soaking wet," Ami said. "You'll catch your death of   
cold."  
  
Usagi snort-laughed, despite herself.  
  
"Ami, why can't I have a normal life, with normal friends?"  
  
"Usagi, I'm sorry. What can I say...?"  
  
"I just wish," Usagi said, "you could trust me. Haven't I always   
been there for you? Haven't I always risked everything I have for   
you guys...?"  
  
"I think that's the problem, Usagi. Rei and Mamoru do love you,   
and they didn't want to burden you with this stupid mistake they   
made."  
  
"Is there anything I can do for them?"  
  
"Yes," Ami said; "you're the only one who can heal them."  
  
"Well--why didn't they ASK me?"  
  
"Because they're your friends, and they thought you'd freak out if   
you knew what happened."  
  
"Well, I would freak out...! I'm mad, damn it...!"  
  
Usagi stood there a moment, gasping with frustration.  
  
"...but--I still love them. They are my friends."  
  
"Well," Ami suggested, "maybe you should tell them. I think they   
feel pretty stupid right now."  
  
Usagi smiled, aware of the tears crystallized on her cheeks.   
Angry and disappointed as she was, she couldn't imagine it was   
very much fun for Rei and Mamoru to be trapped in the wrong   
identities like they were; almost certainly, her friends were   
hurting, just like she was.  
  
"You're right, Ami," Usagi said finally, putting her hand on her   
friend's shoulder, and pausing a long moment before she spoke   
again. "I did forget to ask, though, how did YOU know what   
happened?"  
  
Ami did not answer straightaway, and Usagi was surprised to   
realize SHE was now choking back her tears.  
  
"My mother told me," Ami said, finally. "My mother from the Moon   
Kingdom."  
  
"She's still alive?"  
  
"No. It was a message she left for me, a long time ago."  
  
"Oh, Ami..."  
  
"It's all right," Ami said. "Maybe if we live, I'll tell you   
about her some time."  
  
"I'd like that," Usagi said, amazed by this strange turn of   
events--and wishing she could see her friend's face better in the   
near darkness.  
  
"Are YOU all right, Usagi?"  
  
"Yes, I'm better now. Come on, let's go see if we can straighten   
this mess out."  
  
* * *  
  
Nervous and apprehensive, the false Rei and false Mamoru were   
standing on the open quarterdeck when Ami and Usagi returned   
topside--only Usagi was now dressed as Eternal Sailor Moon,   
replete with wings and holding the Moon Power Tier, her magic   
wand.   
  
"You two..." she muttered, spinning the wand around her body;   
"STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS!"  
  
A moment later, a wash of radiant light saturated their bodies,   
and their minds returned to their proper places--the girl's mind   
in the girl, and the man's mind in the man.  
  
"Rei...?" Mamoru asked.  
  
"Mamoru...?" Rei replied; "I think we're back to normal!"  
  
Whereupon, Sailor Moon strolled casually over to her friends--and   
smacked them both over the head with her wand.  
  
"Hey!" Rei cried; "that hurt!"  
  
"Good."  
  
"Usagi, I'm sorry," Mamoru said.  
  
"I know," Sailor Moon said; "but what's that they say? 'A great   
love is always tragic...'?"  
  
"Well, this is good," Rei said, rubbing the bump on her head, "but   
we're still stuck on a crippled boat..."  
  
Even as she spoke, however, bubbles began to rise up around the   
submarine that had been their day-long companion, and the topside   
hatch slid beneath the waves.  
  
"It's sinking," Ami said; "once it goes deep enough, the jamming   
will stop, and the Coast Guard will see us."  
  
"What...?" Rei asked. "How do you know that...?"  
  
Ami, however, did not reply, simply looking out toward the sea as   
the lunar hospital sank toward the floor of the bay. Several   
minutes later, an awesome rumble issued from the depths, and the   
sea heaved around the 'Kofuku Shima'--creaking the already broken   
hull.  
  
"It's gone now," Ami said, lowering her head. "The ship is   
destroyed."  
  
"How DO you know that?" Mamoru asked.  
  
But he let the question drop a moment later, as the night was   
cut by the searchlight beam of a helicopter. As if on cue, the   
Coast Guard had found them.  
  
* * *  
  
A few minutes later, a Coast Guard cutter pulled alongside and the   
passengers of the 'Kofuku Shima' were finally rescued. The Coast   
Guard sailors were astonished that the university vessel had   
seemed to vanish after the freak storm in the bay, but they were   
glad to complete a rescue begun earlier in the afternoon; all four   
of the sailors from the 'Kofuku Shima' had been found bobbing in   
the water, thanks to their PFD's and radio beacons.  
  
And, in fact, Captain Yamamoto was at the Coast Guard station when   
the cutter pulled in, alongside several others: Kino Makoto, Aino   
Minako, Usagi's mother Ikuko, and Rei's shrine-mate Kumada   
Yuuichirou--the latter still wearing his red and white kimono.  
  
"Miss Rei!" said the shaggy Yuuichirou, hugging her impulsively;   
"I'm so glad you're safe!"  
  
"Yeah, it's good to see you, too," Rei said--realizing his tall,   
masculine body was not all that different from the one she'd been   
borrowing, earlier. "Where's Grampa?"  
  
"He fell asleep in the commodore's office."  
  
Rei smiled.  
  
"Well, you can hit me now," Yuuichirou said, backing up; "I know I   
shouldn't be touching you."  
  
"No, it's all right. It's all right."  
  
Ikuko, in the meantime, had taken Usagi in her own arms, showering   
her with questions and expressions of relief.  
  
"I'm fine, Mom--I'm fine, really."  
  
"I guess I shouldn't have worried," Ikuko said; "your friends are   
pretty dependable."  
  
Mamoru and Ami exchanged dubious glances.  
  
"Yes," Usagi said; "I've got pretty good friends."  
  
Mako, Mina and Captain Yamamoto then came up to express their own   
relief--first to Usagi and Rei, then to Ami and Mamoru, standing   
a few meters off to one side.  
  
"You nut," Mako said, tearfully, embracing Usagi; "you can't die   
without me!"  
  
"I'm just glad YOU were safe on shore," Usagi said. "How was your   
date?"  
  
"Awful. He wasn't anything like my old boyfriend..."  
  
The other girls smiled at that familiar refrain.  
  
"...but the day wasn't a total loss," Mako continued; "I think   
Mina met her biggest fan!"  
  
Captain Yamamoto grinned cheerfully.  
  
"An autographed copy of 'Route Venus'!" he said, holding up a tape   
cassette. "This is so cool!"  
  
Mina, meanwhile, leaned in close to Usagi.  
  
"What a hunk--and he actually likes my act! No wonder you wanted   
to go on that boat..."  
  
Nearby--still standing alongside Mamoru--Ami smiled, thoughtfully.   
It was a true that everyone was safe and sound...but she still   
wished she could have saved Maia--even if Maia had already been   
dead for a thousand years.  
  
//I do wish I could see Mom,// Ami thought, glancing around the   
room, //but she's probably still at the hospital. She probably   
doesn't even know what happened...//  
  
Just then, however, Ami caught sight of a familiar figure rushing   
into the station.  
  
"Isn't that your mom?" Mamoru asked.  
  
"It is my mom...!" Ami said, recognizing her mother--rumpled and   
tired after a day at work--before her mother saw her. Parting   
from Mamoru, and breaking past the others, Ami dashed across the   
room and virtually plowed into the startled Dr. Mizuno, hugging   
her tightly.  
  
"Ami, you're safe!" the doctor said; "you are all right, aren't   
you? I only just heard that they found you..."  
  
"I'm fine," Ami said, embracing her mother; "but I thought you'd   
be at work..."  
  
"I spend enough time at the hospital," Dr. Mizuno said, brushing   
Ami's hair out of her eyes. "I was so worried about you..."  
  
It occurred to Ami--just then--that she had faced death a hundred   
times over, with Sailor Moon and the other senshi, but that was a   
secret she could never share with her mother. Maybe, if nothing   
else, this adventure had given her something--a fear she could   
finally share with her mother.  
  
"I'm so used to you taking care of yourself," her mother went on;   
"I'm never there when you need me."  
  
"No, Mom, you're great...you're the greatest mom ever."  
  
"I'm terrible..."  
  
"No, Mom, you're perfect. Just perfect."   
  
Mamoru, meanwhile, had moved alongside Usagi--and was startled   
that she was willing to hold him.   
  
"It's amazing," he said, putting his arm--gingerly--around her,   
"how much Ami looks like her mom."  
  
"That's true," Usagi said. "I don't look anything like my mom."  
  
"Maybe you just fell out of the sky and she took you in," Rei   
suggested.  
  
"No," Ikuko said, looking at Usagi. "That's my baby!"  
  
And Dr. Mizuno smiled, overhearing.  
  
"Why don't we go home now, Ami-chan."  
  
"Sure, Maia."  
  
Her mother looked at her, curiously.  
  
"I mean, 'Mom'. Let's go home, Mom."  
  
  
THE END 


End file.
